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News

WCC Men's Soccer Weekly Notes

Pacific Northwest rivals Gonzaga and Portland kickoff conference play this weekend as the Bulldogs travel to Portland to take on the Pilots on Friday. The Zags and Pilots are the only teams opening WCC play this week as Loyola Marymount, San Diego, San Francisco and Santa Clara continue non-conference play. Saint Mary's is idle this week.

UPCOMING SCHEDULE

All Times PST

WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 24

TEAMS

LOCATION

TIME

RECAP

San Jose State at Santa Clara

Santa Clara, CA

7:00 PM

THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 25

TEAMS

LOCATION

TIME

RECAP

UCLA at San Diego

San Diego, CA

7:00 PM

FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 26

TEAMS

LOCATION

TIME

RECAP

San Francisco at California

Berkeley, CA

4:00 PM

Gonzaga at Portland

Portland, OR

7:00 PM

SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 27

TEAMS

LOCATION

TIME

RECAP

Santa Clara at Stanford

Stanford, CA

7:00 PM

SUNDAY, SEPTEMBER 28

TEAMS

LOCATION

TIME

RECAP

Oregon State at Loyola Marymount

Los Angeles, CA

2:00 PM

Gonzaga at Washington

Seattle, WA

2:30 PM

AROUND THE WCC

WCC Player of the Week: LMU's Patrick Sampson Earns Second Weekly HonorSampson kept the Lions within striking distance of two ranked squads over the weekend as he came within seven minutes of pitching two shutouts against No. 9 Northwestern and No. 11 Illinois-Chicago. Sampson kept No. 11 UIC off the board for the entire 110 minutes in a 0-0 tie. LMU needed each of Sampson's career-high seven saves as UIC held a 15-5 shot advantage and LMU played a man down for the final 65 minutes. The shutout was Sampson's second of the season and he lowered his goals-against-average to 0.45.

WCC Tradition In The NCAA TournamentThe 2007 marked the seventh straight season, and the 19th time in conference history, that multiple WCC teams earned bids to the NCAA Tournament. Santa Clara played in its fifth straight NCAA Tournament and the 18th in program history, while Portland made its 13th appearance, and Gonzaga earned postseason selection for the second time. WCC teams have made 78 NCAA Tournament appearances since the NCAA competition began, and have claimed five national championships. USF leads all conference teams with four national championships, while SCU earned a share of the Division I crown in 1989 after battling Virginia to a draw in the title game. Santa Clara is the last WCC team to have appeared in a College Cup, advancing to college soccer's "Final Four" in 2003.

WCC TEAM NOTES

SCHOOL

TEAM NOTES

UPCOMING SCHEDULE

Overall Record: 3-2-1WCC Record: 0-0-0

The Bulldogs won their tournament for the first time in three tries, defeating UMKC, 3-2, in overtime before edging Cal State Bakersfield, 1-0, in the championship game of the Gonzaga Nike Soccer Classic.

Freshmen F/MF Philippe Garre scored his first career goal to lift the Zags over Cal State Bakersfield.

Junior F Tye Perdido tallied two goals, including the game-winner in overtime to help the Bulldogs defeat UMKC. For his efforts, Perdido was named tournament MVP, while defenders Nick Barclay, Tim Muravez, and Mitch Boland joined him on the all-tournament team.

Junior GK Scott Barnum registered his second shutout of the year in the win over CSUB.

Gonzaga opens WCC play at Portland (9/26) before playing at Washington (9/28).

Sept. 26at Portland - 7:00 PM

Sept. 28at Washington - 2:30 PM

Overall Record: 1-2-3WCC Record: 0-0-0

The Lions fared well on their challenging road trip, dropping a 1-0 decision in the final minutes at No. 9 Northwestern, before earning a hard-fought 0-0 tie at No. 11 Illinois-Chicago.

The Lions have played arguably the toughest schedule in the nation, as all six of their opponents have been ranked in the top 25 and four of the six were ranked in the top 10.

Junior GK Patrick Sampson was spectacular over the weekend, setting a new career-high with seven saves against No. 11 UIC in registering his second clean sheet of the season. For his efforts, Sampson, who leads the conference in saves per game (5.00), earned his second WCC Player of the Week honor this season, making him the only player in the league to win the weekly award twice.

The Lions return home to host Oregon State (9/28) this Sunday.

Sept. 19Oregon State - 2:00 PM

Overall Record: 3-2-2WCC Record: 0-0-0

Portland earned a 1-1 tie versus No. 24 New Mexico before shutting out Cal State Fullerton, 2-0, at the Husky Fever Classic.

Junior MF Collen Warner and sophomore MF/F Frankie Lopez each netted a goal as the Pilots shutout the Titans. Warner was named the Offensive MVP at the Husky Fever Classic. For his efforts, Warner, who scored a goal and assisted on another, was selected to the National Team of the Week by College Soccer News.

Lopez leads the Pilots and the WCC with six goals this season.

Sophomore GK Austin Guerrero made six saves versus CS Fullerton for his first shutout of the season.

The Pilots open conference play by hosting Northwest rival Gonzaga (9/26).

Sept. 26vs. Gonzaga - 7:00 PM

Overall Record: 1-5-1WCC Record: 0-0-0

The Gaels tied Penn State, 0-0, before falling late to UNLV, 2-1, at the BMW/Nike Soccer Challenge hosted by San Francisco.

Junior GK Jason Badger recorded his first career shutout and set a career-high with five saves as the Gaels kept the Nittany Lions off the scoreboard.

Senior D Corey Heldreth and sophomore D Jordan Grider were both named to the BMW/Nike Soccer Challenge all-tournament team. The two were a huge factor in shutting out Penn State and holding PSU to their lowest shot total of the season. Going into the match, Penn State averaged over 22 shots game, and had out-shot its opponent 133-48.

Junior MF Yousef Samy scored his third goal of the season in the loss to UNLV.

SMC is idle this week before opening WCC play by hosting USD (10/3) and LMU (10/5).

Oct. 3vs. San Diego - 4:00 PM

Oct. 5vs. LMU - 2:00 PM

Overall Record: 0-5-2WCC Record: 0-0-0

The Toreros suffered a pair of tough setbacks, falling 2-1 in double-overtime to No. 23 UC Davis, before dropping a 1-0 decision to UC Irvine.

Four of the Toreros' five losses this season have been by a one-goal margin, including the last three matches.

Senior GK Kelin Briones recorded five saves in the match versus UC Davis, as the Aggies recorded 17 shots to San Diego's three.

The Toreros have gotten used to logging extra minutes as three of their seven games so far this season have gone into double overtime, including two of the last four.

San Diego looks for its first win of the season as the Toreros close out the non-conference portion of their schedule by hosting UCLA (9/25).

Sept. 25UCLA - 7:00 PM

Overall Record: 1-4-1WCC Record: 0-0-0

San Francisco broke its scoring drought with a 1-1 tie versus UNLV and a 2-0 win over Penn State in the Dons own BMW/Nike Soccer Challenge.

Junior forward Conor Chinn, the Dons' leading scorer a year ago, tallied the first goal of the 2008 season for the Dons in the tie versus UNLV.

Chinn didn't waste time finding the back of the net for his second goal, tallying the game-winning strike versus Penn State in the third minute of the match.

Senior D Jeff Russell was named tournament MVP after stabilizing a defensive unit that allowed just one goal in 200 minutes. Joining Russell on the all-tournament team was Chinn and freshman D Victor Wennberg.

The Dons close out the non-conference slate at Bay Area rival Cal (9/26).

Sept. 26at Cal - 4:00 PM

Overall Record: 1-4-1WCC Record: 0-0-0

The Broncos suffered a 2-0 setback at UCLA in their lone match last week.

Junior MF Jeff Cosgriff continues to lead the Broncos in points with six (2G, 2A). His two goals already matches his total from last season.

Senior F Brian Martin has also tallied two goals and has four points thus far.

Sophomore GK Kevin Klasila has a 1.38 goals against average and has collected eight saves.

Santa Clara has allowed 11 goals this season after giving up just 16 in 2007.

SCU hosts Bay Area rivals San Jose State (9/24) and Stanford (9/27) this week.